Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 6,714 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. $FANG

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 22,814 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 6,714 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $3,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 106.3% in the 3rd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 198 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter worth $38,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FANG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Diamondback Energy from $182.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $180.00 to $178.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diamondback Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $196.81.

Diamondback Energy Stock Performance

FANG opened at $201.84 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $114.00 and a 12-month high of $204.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $173.12 and a 200-day moving average of $156.02. The stock has a market cap of $56.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.98 and a beta of 0.59.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 8.08% and a net margin of 11.07%.The business had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. Diamondback Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were issued a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Diamondback Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Diamondback Energy’s payout ratio is presently 74.87%.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In other news, Director Steven E. West sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.35, for a total transaction of $1,130,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,561.40. The trade was a 57.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Albert Barkmann sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.90, for a total transaction of $731,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 27,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,042,735.90. The trade was a 12.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,209,212 shares of company stock worth $199,689,401 in the last quarter. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub?basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.